Blinded
by Stee Parker
Summary: A young girl became blind after a freak accident. Learning to live again is her goal, until a herald comes and disrupts the life she is just starting to rebuild.
1. Flight

Disclaimer: Everybody knows to do a disclaimer on the fics by now. It's something of a tradition, so technically, I'm fulfilling it. Hehe! Anyway, all characters, places, plots, and ext. that has been seen in the books or written by Mercedes Lackey, are hers. Easy as pie!  

_:Blah:_ means mindspeech. _Italics _mean someone's thoughts that are not mindspeech. Um anything else I think of I'll tell you when it comes up.

          Blinded: Chapter One, Flight

-------------        ----------------         ------------          ------------

_I'm almost done!_ The girl thought with pride as she lifted the last piece of wood into the symmetrical pile and then smiled when the pile didn't topple over. Most people wouldn't be pleased about building a woodpile, but for her it was the first in a hopefully long line of triumphs that would eventually lead her to being able to do the normal everyday things - with out knocking into people. _It's been 4months since the accident._ She thought with brief surprise and only a moment of pain. Before she would have cried but she was learning to live without her eyes to help her and all because of that blasted accident.

_*********** Flashback *******************************_

_She had been cooking stew for her elderly grandparents stirring while keeping watch over her little brother, making sure he didn't get into any trouble. _

_"Lira?" Her grandmother called questionably, her thin crackling voice made Lira feel as if she was in the presence of a warm fire. It always warmed her up to be in her grandmother's presence. She took her eyes off both her brother and the soup to turn to her grandmother._

_"Yes grandma?"_

_"Come in here a moment will you Sugar?" Lira smiled at her grandmother's nickname for her and called back with a smile._

_"When the stew is done I'll be right over." She hummed a tune when she saw her brother in the corner of her eyes start to climb on the stove. She whirled around and grabbed the little boy to safety, that's when her arm hit the ladle and all of the hot contents came flying towards her and her brother. They hit her smack in the face burning through the eyelid but mercifully did not touch the precious boy that she was protecting. After that, she remembered very little. - Hearing a scream, hers, her brother weeping, and blinking colors until everything went black. Those flashing colors were the last glints of color she saw, and would ever see._

******************* End Flashback *************************

She could feel tears sliding down her face and she brushed them angrily away, she was fine and she had eyelids and no scars thanks to the traveling healers expertise. Her was alive and well so why was she crying, why couldn't she just move on as people were telling her to do?

_I can't because my vision was prized above all the rest in the village, I could see really far. It was something I was known for and now all I'm known for is the poor girl who lost her sight and has to relearn everything._

She remembered the first few days after the bandages on her eyes came off. She couldn't even eat because she kept missing the plate. It was so embarrassing that at first, she didn't eat but her parents got worried and ordered her sister to help. That made it even worse and even more upsetting, she didn't like people taking pity on her and what she had thought pity was really just her parent's uneasiness showing through her sister.

I wish I could just run away, Lira thought sadly. She was sick of all the sympathetic looks she could 'feel' from people and all of there compassionate thoughts that kept slipping through her badly made shields. That was another reason why she wanted to run away. Her 'gift' as she heard people say, was anything but that. The mind speech had awoken shortly after the trauma of the accident and had continuously grown. At first she had been elated thinking, that maybe now she had a 'gift' a companion would magically appear and bring her to the collegiums. But that dream slowly died as the months passed. Now all she wanted to do was get some respite from all the people, however worthy there intentions are, talking in her head. The other problem was that in the books she read before her blindness said that the gift comes. It didn't say anything about having the gift keep growing and growing. It seemed that whenever she put up a shield the gift would grow until the shield could not contain it any longer and she was worried about that. 

_Maybe you just didn't get books that were informed enough._ Lira thought rationally but inside she knew the truth, she hadn't heard of _anybody _with a gift like hers that almost had a mind and will of it's own. She really, really didn't want, or like that at all. She just wanted to be normal. But since that wasn't possible she wanted to be as normal as she could be without a wild gift that would make the crevice between her and her peers into something more like a chasm.

That brought her to her second wish. She wanted to have a friend, a real friend who understood her and cared about her. Not someone who made a friendship out of pity or who's parents made them be friends. She wanted a true friend who she could free to be whoever she wanted to be around them. 

She knew that it wasn't possible to get any of her wishes. The town she lived in was nice but in the middle of no-where. Heralds came every year or so but she didn't expect them to take along a tag along who couldn't even see and the merchants were just as unlikely to take somebody. As for her second wish, she knew all the people in the village and even before the accident; she hadn't been a close friend with anybody. It was no fault of the village, but there hadn't been anybody who inspired her to be openly friendly and therefore they had stayed away from her.

_I'm just destined to be an abnormal freak that has no friends._ Lira thought miserably brushing away tears again. _I'm a hopeless, mind reading fool who wants to run away from a happy home. I'm pathetically un-. _Lira was interrupted from her self-discrimination by a low pleasant voice almost directly in front of her.

"You do know your projecting awfully loudly don't you." It was a woman's voice, one that Lira knew she had never heard before. She instinctually ducked her head and slouched against the woodpile she so neatly put up. She paused for a moment but she knew that she had to do this to find out who the person was and dived into the woman's mind. _A herald,_ Lira thought after a moment _and a Companion. Now for the names, the woman is Kahoka and the Companion is Mali-. _She felt herself get thrown out of the strange woman's mind and could feel the reprimand on her face soon followed by a bit of astonishment.

_: Where did you learn to do that?: _The woman, Kahoka, asked with a glint of admiration in her voice,_: Not here I imagine.: _Lira was shocked, she came out of her slouch and started to run. A woman was talking in her head. It wasn't just thoughts this time either, she was actually talking and directing thoughts at her. She couldn't stand the weirdness of it, only heralds were supposed to have that ability and she wasn't a herald.

_: Girl, I'm not going to hurt you.: _Kahoka said trying to sooth the girl who was running away from her. Lira didn't listen and kept on running. She knew that she would bump into something, but she didn't care, she just wanted to get as far away from the woman as possible. Suddenly she was unable to move, something was stopping her. She looked around wildly at all of the minds present in her mind. He found where the source of her paralise was coming from. The Companion!

:_ Kaho, the girl, she needs a shield.:_ Shield, girl, now. Kaho's thoughts were coming in short words and she scurried to the girl. This was only her second time out on circuit and she was a bit nervous about her ability.

_: Chosen, you the strongest mindspeeker among all the Heralds. You can handle this, it's only a girl.: _Kaho felt distinctly soothed by that thought and she let her mind see the girl. She blanched, for what she saw blew away all of her convictions. The girl's mindspeech potential was big, as big as her own. But that part didn't scare her, it was the fact that the gift was slowly eating away potential opening. Slowly, so that it was barely noticeable, but still fast enough that you could feel it growing steadily if you looked hard enough. This was bad, not only for the girl, who she pitied, but also for the rest of Valdemar. Because whenever strong, unique gifts arise that means trouble is not far beyond the horizon. 

------------------------      ---------------     -------------------       --------

Well, that's it for the first chappie. I finally have it done! So what do people think about it? Reviews would be very appreciated! Advice, comment and questions are all very welcome! 

                                       Cheers without tears!

                                                             Stee


	2. Goodbyes

Disclaimer: All bow to Mercedes Lackey for her wonderful works! She and not me, is responsible for the land of Valdemar and certain characters. 

A/N: _Italic's _means thoughts, (not mindspeech) and _:blah: _means mindspeech. 

Reviewer thankie!

Fireblade K'chona: Thankie Mucho! I love your new last name. It makes it easier to identify you. Iya! Your puppy dog eyes defeated me, here's the next chapter. *grins*

Andi: Don't be distressed. Next chapter is written! Hehe, biased you, yeah, I suppose, since you were the first one I went to when my plot bunnies bit me with it. Thanks for the review! I'll try to be more careful in the spelling and grammar areas. Tak!

Chapter Two: Goodbyes

___________           -________________             __________

Lira sighed. Her wish had come true. She was leaving with a Herald, but now that it was actually happening, it didn't seem that grand. She was leaving her home, a place she had lived her whole life. Although it was true that she didn't have any friends, at least the people were familiar and kind, in a gooey, forced way, but kind all the same. 

          She walked around the village one last time. Breathing in the scents, and imagining the village as she had seen it before her accident. She knew that she was lucky that she had once been able to see at all. She also knew, that it was time to say goodbye to familiar sites.

          She felt strong arms envelop her, and she tensed and then relaxed as she identified her holder. 

          "Goodbye da," Lira said, turning to face her father, holding back tears. Right now, she wished that Herald Kaho, hadn't put up shields around her. She would have liked to see what her father was really thinking. _Stop it! _Lira thought to herself. _Why should you want to know that? You know your dad loves you. That should be enough for you. _

          She heard another pair of footsteps come closer to her. But, could not identify the walker. _Dang these shields, _Lira thought again, _I'm as helpless as a baby is. _While other people can identify what others are thinking with their eyes, Lira had come to rely on her Gift, for identifying and knowing where others were and what they were thinking. 

          "It's time to go, Lira" It was a woman's voice, husky, and well educated. A Heralds voice. Lira turned to her father.

          "Tell ma, an' all the rest that I'll miss 'em." Lira whispered sadly, thinking about her younger sister and brother, Tricia and Richie. 

          They had said goodbyes the night before.

********************** FLASHBACK ***********************

          _"Ma, Da, I got some news" Lira said quietly, trying to find her way to her Ma but stumbling into her brother instead. She knew, but couldn't feel, the surprise on Richie's face. She never bumped into humans. The shield that Herald Kaho had around her, was too strong for her to see other peoples thoughts, and therefore she could not sense them._

_          "We're over here, Lira." She heard her mothers voice and reeled over sharply to the right. She had been going entirely in the wrong direction. Small hands turned her in the right direction, guiding her gently, towards her parents._

_          Lira turned red in embarrassment. Her sister, her **younger** sister, was helping her. It should be the other way around. _

_          "Thank you Tric." Lira mumbled, barely keep the resentment out of her voice. _

_          "I don't need your thanks Lira, being your sister is enough for me." Lira felt tears come to her eyes, and she felt her resentment disappear in one great rush. Her sister at 12, was two years younger, and still way ahead of her in the courtesy department. _

_          "What'cha need ta tell us?" Her mother asked, Lira could hear her crocheting, by the fire. _

_          "A- a Herald came by today." Lira told them quietly._

_          "She, she want to take me with her, to train me." She could hear the gasps of amazement, in the small cabin. Then her sister's hand found her own again._

_          "I'm glad Lira, real glad," Tric said, squeezing her hand lightly. "It's what you've wanted." Lira shook her head. She didn't deserve a sister like Tric, who didn't have a jealous bone in her body. _

_          She could hear Richie's loud squeals of excitement that his sister was going to go become a special herald. She grinned. She'd let the four-year-old think what he wanted. She could imagine him going around to all his friends telling them, **his** sister, was going to become someone special.  _

_          "We're leaving tomorrow."_

******************** / FLASHBACK *********************

She shook her head clear of the thoughts from the night before. 

          "I love ya Da, I'll write, I promise when I learn how," Herald Kaho, had promised Lira that she would learn. "Ya can get Father Herbidge ta read it for ya. Bye." She squeezed her father into a tight hug, and let the Herald take her hand and lead her to her new life.

    __________         __________          __________       __________

          It had taken two weeks, of hard Companion riding for the Herald and the girl to reach the outskirts of Haven. 

          In fact, Lira was just getting used to the riding, when they reached their destination. After much convincing and begging, the Herald had resisted taking down the shields on Lira. Knowing that it was better for Lira this way, without having multiple voice charging like rhino's inside ones mind. She had experience. She sighed, too much experience.

          _:Mali, how's the girl doing? She hasn't talked to me since I refused to take the shield's down.: _ She could hear the Companion equivalent of a chuckle.

          _:It's not funny, Mali: _Ugh, how come she, of all the Heralds, was stuck with a Companion that thought it was _funny_ that someone wasn't talking to you?

          _:Chosen, she definitely is talking, in fact, she's shouting. I suggest you take down the shields for a few seconds, and see how she reacts.: _Kaho rolled her eyes. Her Companion also had a wry sense of humor. But he did have a point. Maybe if the girl had the shields down after days of being protected, she'd understand why there were needed. Oy, this girl was so difficult. She concentrated for a moment, and took the layers of shields down. Before the last one was gone, she told Mali to stop. If her estimate was correct. The girl was going to collapse.

          The shields were down. It took a few seconds for the girl to react. Kaho had her shields up at full blast to protect herself from Lira's 'shouting.' Then Lira's eyes rolled up into her head, and she swayed dangerously to one side. Kaho carefully lowered some of her own shields.

          _:**Now**,do you see why a shield is necessary, girl?: _She didn't receive a response. But then again, she didn't expect too. The girl was probably sorting through all of the voices being shot at her.

          Kaho rushed the girls shields back up in less time then it took to take them down, and the girl collapsed in a heap of Mali's back. Kaho dismounted, and walked to the place where the girl was laying. 

          "You were right." The girl said before Kaho got to her. She sat up slowly, and shook her head as if to clear it of any remaining voices. She looked up meekly into Kaho's eyes.

          "'M sorry I've been so difficult, Herald. I'll be good now, I promise." Kaho sighed in relief. Finally!

          _: I have to admit it, horse, that was a dang good idea. Maybe finally, I'll have a conversation with someone other then my brain or a blue-eyed demon.: _Mali snorted and rode off, without his Herald or the girl on his back.

          "No, Mali, I didn't mean it! Come back!"

          Mali glanced behind him merrily. His eyes twinkling in mischief and he winked. 

          Kaho groaned, this was going to be a long, walk into Haven. 

__________           _______________        __________         ______

A/N: Big, huge Lollypops for all who reviewed! *Hands them out to Fireblade and Andi, while eating one herself* Mmmm, I love lollypops, and there useful as a weapon. *whacks an offending pop up* Anyway, back to me, well the story I suppose. Lira has finally reached the capital, and has gotten over her silence. Yada yada yada. See y'all next chapter hopefully!

Cheers without tears,

                         Stee


	3. Haven

Disclaimer: Welcome, welcome, to the story. Come in, my children, for I must tell you, that characters found in Misty's books, will never be mine to claim. Now the story may continue.

Authors note: Same basic stuff, _blah_ is thoughts, _:_blah_: _is mindspeech. If anyone knows what lies to the west of Valdemar I'll give them any sweet they want!

*                  *               *           *            *             *        *           *      *

          Lira's sightless eyes traveled back and forth across the endless busy of the Collegium. The sounds were amazing; horses hooves, companions bell-like jingle, continuous chatter, pots clinging, and above all else laughter. 

          The sounds almost overpowered her, much as her gift would if unshielded. Her oversensitive ears were used to a small village of 100, busy, but quiet. This clanging noise scared her. She shrunk back away from it all, her hands clasped tight around her ears. 

          Footsteps came towards her. Lira reached out and touched the material, a Heralds material.   

          "Follow me Lira, you'll be living in the Bardic Collegium, the Heraldic is all filled up unfortunately." Following the Heralds footsteps, she maneuvered herself into the constant noise, trying to block out all the sound. Nobody noticed. 

          In and out, curves, strait pathways, switches of directions, Lira was soon very, very lost. She didn't even know if she was still in the Palace district. 

          _: You most certainly are youngling.: _A deep bass voice filled her head, and out of habit, she swung her head around looking for the source of that voice. Of course, she didn't see anything, and with the shield so tightly placed around her, she couldn't search with her mind. She tried a mindcall back, not knowing if she was managing it the right way, or if the voice could even hear her.

          _: Where am I? :_ Lira felt a jolt of shock, as for the first time she formed her thoughts together and deliberately spoke to someone from her mind. She was doing Herald things, and she was certainly not a Herald. 

          _: You give the Heralds too much credit girl, other people have mindspeech, it's just that most people associate mind gifts with Heralds. _I_ am undoubtedly not a Herald, or one of those crazy horse-like beings.:_ The voice snorted._ : You are in the Palace District, near the Bardic Collegium.: _Lira was heading up stairs. _:In fact, you're in the Bardic Collegium.: _The voice was lightly teasing her, and Lira grinned at open air. 

          _: Who are ya? Ya're awfully blunt.: _Lira knew that it was definitely a rude question considering how nice the voice was being to her, but she wanted to know, quite badly in fact. She wished her sister was here, Tric, would know how to form the question diplomatically. She wished her whole family were here. 

          _: _I_ am Altra, I'm a cat. Of course I'm blunt.: _The voice waited for a response, but when he got none other then a questionable mental tab, she could feel the exasperation in his voice.

          _: I'm a firecat, who belongs to Karal, the Sun Priest and Ambassador from Karse.:  _She still didn't understand anything, or the significance of it, other then this Priest Karal was from Karse. The enemy turned ally, who had stopped the dreaded storms from killing her family's crop. She supposed she should be grateful to them, but in some small portion of her mind, something was ingrained that said, 'Karsites are horrible people. They are always wicked and intentionally try to hurt you. They love the demon's, if only because they ruin the lives of people you love.' It was ridiculous, after all the actions that Karse had after the Storms, she should know better, but somehow, she didn't.   

          _: The demon summoning has stopped youngling. They won't return for as long as Solaris lives. We're not the enemy, not any longer. Karal is my friend, and before you ask, the reason I'm talking to you is that you have something in common with Karal. I thought that maybe you two might want to meet. : _Lira was somewhat dragged down by all the suncat- or was it firecat- was telling her. What would a Karsite have in common with her?

          "Kaho, there's a cat talking in my head." Even as she said it, she knew how stupid it sounded. It sounded like she was going crazy. Kaho didn't respond like anything was out of the ordinary.

          "Does that sort of thing happen a lot?" Lira seethed, Kaho was treating her like a little girl again. With the type of question that says, 'if you answer the right way then I'll tell you why I asked.' 

          "Why would I have a cat talking in my head all the time?" Lira snapped. Inside her mind, she could hear the Cat talking to her. _: Temper, temper, she's only trying to help.:_

_          : I don't care if she's trying to help m' Cat, I don't want 'er treating m' like a babe!:   _Lira tried to calm herself down. She tried another question.

          "'e says Karal an' me might want ta meet." Kaho stopped suddenly, and Lira ran into her. Lira scowled openly at the Herald. 

          "This is your room. Your roommate will be around shortly I imagine. No, I don't know anything about her. Karal is a Sun Priest. He played a major roll in saving our Kingdom from the storms 4 years ago, and lost his sight for it." Kaho's voice quieted. "I was in my final year of training when that happened. I only learned afterwards how much risk the country was in. Anyway." Kaho's voice brightened, "let me show you around your room."  She led the girl around, letting her touch and feel her way to where things were. In 20 minutes, Lira had examined the room, in ways that Kaho didn't even think about. Suddenly, Lira turned to her. 

          "Lead m' back ta the bottom, where the entrance is." Lira commanded. She had to get this right, her whole future of not getting lost depended on it. So, Kaho lead her back downstairs, and walked her back up to her room. Then back down they went. The second time, Kaho let go of her, and gave her voice commands. One time Kaho didn't notice a step and Lira tripped. She swept herself off, and continued to go on, brushing Kaho's apology away. She was mainly focused on memorizing the route, and right now nothing, not pain, not confusion was going to get in her way.  

          After the fifth time Lira got upstairs onto the 5th floor without any major mishaps, and she flopped on her bed. She was grateful that Kaho had put up with her during that time. The Herald left, muttering something under her breath about 'grooming the demon.' The cat's presence came back into her mind.

          _: That was very neatly done, human, it would have taken Karal ages to think of something like that so soon after losing his sight.: _Lira didn't recognize the compliment, she was mad about the fact that the Cat didn't know her name. 

          _: M' name's Lira. And, since ya're snooping in m' brain anyway, why can't ya figure out m' name? :_

_          : You call me Cat so I call you human. By the way Lira: _The Cats- no Altra's voice turned less haughty, _: A girl is looking at you from the doorway, I'm guessing that it's your roommate. :_ Before Lira could ask Altra how he knew that, he was gone. She turned her head towards the door, not that it let her see any better. 

          "'m Lira McCallistar. From the Western border of Valdemar." The girl came closer to her.

          "I'm Eimily Johnson. Welcome to Bardic." There was an awkward silence between them, until Eimily finally said something.

          "Is it a custom where you're born that you don't shake hands?" She asked curiously. A faint tint of pink colored the other girls face, as she hastily let out her hand, directly to the right of where Eimily was standing. 

          She accommodated Lira and stepped so that they were facing each other again. 

          "Are you… blind?" Her voice was hesitant and she immediately berated herself for asked such a frank question, I mean the answer was obvious.

          "Yes, why?" Lira's voice was suspicious. "Do you not like blind people, is that it?"

          "No, it's not that, my brother was blinded after an accident. He killed himself a month after. He never learned to live without color." Lira reached out and touched the other girl, and suddenly, she was in the other girls memory, seeing from her point of view.

***************FLASHBACK *********************************

          _Eimily dashed out of the house, her brother's yell was painful to her ears, even as her heart trembled when she saw her brothers attackers. They had already punctured one eye, and when she got there, they did the next one. _

_          Eimily fell on the floor screaming, the blood was pouring out of her brothers' eyes, and it looked like they'd massacred his entire face. _

_          "You want to know what it's like not to see boy, now you know what you made our leader go through." She could see Riley struggling for breath._

_          "I did it to save my sister, he was going to hurt her, use her in ways that would eventually kill her. Her voice isn't worth that, and my eyes are more then worth my sisters talent." Riley knew something was happening, he could hear her sisters terrorized screams, and he strained into a sitting position. The guards pushed him back down. Eimily could see them about to give her brother the killing blow._

_          "STOP!" Her scream surprised even herself. It was a scream that would have made a born brawler like her father proud. The men stopped in mid-strike._

_          "Yes, little missy?" They turned towards her expectantly, letting her brother drop. He was running out of blood, they'd hit one of the vessels in his eyes, if she didn't get him to a healer soon, he would die.   _

_          "I'll… do anything… just keep my brother alive." The men grinned in malice even as her brother groaned. He would have done anything to keep her from those men, now because of his actions that's exactly where she was going to end up.  _

_          "We'll see you at work tomorrow then, eh?" One of the men said winking at her suggestively. She turned her back away from him in disgust and turned back to her brother, tears pouring out of her eyes._

_          "Don't die Riley, I'll do anything, just don't die!"_

_************/ FLASHBACK *******************************_

          "What was that?" Lira's eyes widened, she had seen color again of course they were dull shades but it was color nonetheless! The other girl touched Lira's eyes carefully. 

          "You saw that?" Lira could tell she was doubtful. She didn't really blame the other girl, she never would have imagined that she would see color again, even in shared vision. She cherished her new experience, an experience that she had SEEN!

          "I saw color! I- red, yellow, brown, gray. It was all there, I was starting to forget them, and you gave them back to me!" She threw her arms around the other girl. Finding it comfortable and not at all awkward. 

          She had her two wishes granted; the voices had stopped talking into her head, and she finally found a friend, a friend that she could trust. 

          Suddenly a voice broke through all of the barriers that Kaho had so carefully put up. It was her sisters' voice, and she was screaming for help.  

*                 *                  *                  *                 *             *                *

A/N, Sorry to leave it on that note, but I still need to know what the country that lies to the west of Valdemar. Erg, I hate it when I have questions that I can't answer. So, anyone who can will get my greatest gratitude's. Reviewer thank you's coming right up!

Fireblade K'chona: Thankie mucho!

Andi G: tak sa mycket! I know that I have some grammar issues, but I'm working to correct that *winks* By the way, I am very offended, I do NOT bite! I do kick however, so be afraid, be very afraid. Tak sa mychet for dit forslag. : ) 

Vreader: Chappie, Chap'per, chapter, there got it, I can say chapter now! *watches in fascination as pop up struggled to get free of the sticky surface and throws both away* I'd hate to be stuck with it forever, and what a waste of a lollypop! Thank you for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the humor!

GoldenSquirrel: I'm sorry, I didn't think you were reading this one since you don't read Mercedes Lackey. My mistake. I hope that you like Brightly Burning. Thanks for the review! 

Katsiebee: Thanks *grins*


End file.
